Old Boy Scout Camp Lodges

[WA_Scouter]

I am helping to research the history of our councils great historic camp lodge. Finch Lodge was designed by Washington States official architect, Julius Zittel and built during the summer of 1923 at Camp Cowles Scout Camp, Diamond Lake, Washington. Mr. Zittel designed numerous houses, cathedrals and institutional buildings in this region from the 1890s through the 1920s. Our lodge is 70 feet wide and 60 feet deep. It was built with a screened porch meant for dining, a kitchen and a great hall with a large stone fireplace at each end. A balcony with a gothic influenced railing runs around the main hall.

 

Does anyone know of any other great old Boy Scout Camp lodges still owned and used by the Boy Scouts? Do you know if refurbishment or rehabilitation has been done on any? We know we have a very special, unique lodge and wonder how many other special lodges of the same time period (or earlier) are still being used by Scouts.

 

There are a few then and now pictures at www.savefinchlodge.com if anyone is interested.

[baden]

This sort of thing drives me crazy. I know that BSA walks a fine line between the traditions of the past and being relevant to today. I also realize that if we never changed we'd be wearing wool uniforms and working on the harness making MB, but the mindset that everything must be utilitarian with no regard for our rich history is sad.

[Fuzzy Bear]

One beloved SE said that a Scout Camp is nothing more than a "mud hole". My reaction was, "right, but it is our mud hole". He proceeded to try and sell off the mud hole. Most of us stood up and blocked him from doing his best.

 

Our mud hole was used by Indians at one time. There are several areas where you can stand where they stood and as you look around you begin to understand their reason behind their choice of mud holes. I was given the privilege one summer to teach the Indian Lore MB at our mud hole. I chose a different place for each meeting. As I stood in these places, I knew that others had similar thoughts and done similar things years and years before me.

 

As an adult, I could remember coming to our mud hole as a Cub Scout. My brother took me to some of the same impressive spots that I stood later. Others that I knew had grown to favor this area and had similar feelings, memories and experiences.

 

I actually camped at a mud hole as a 17 year old JASM. It later became a BSA camp. I am sure that people came to it and had good experiences and felt very close to it. I just remember it as a mud hole. FB

 

 

[WA_Scouter]

Thank you for your sentiments. The really frustrating thing about our particular situation is that we could have it all. Build a new utilitarian kitchen and rest rooms off the back corner and keep the historic lodge, the beautiful main hall so many have occupied over the last 83 years, intact. In addition, the BSA could gain a lot of respect from the local community that does not want to see this historical landmark demolished.

 

We are still actively searching for other old Boy Scout camp lodges/dining halls. The more we look, the more special and unique our Finch Lodge appears to be. We have found a couple of less grand Scout Lodges but neither is currently operated by BSA. One is now part of a state park in Wyoming. The other, in Chahalis, Wa, was built in 1938 by WPA as a shared community and Boy Scout center. Never really a camp lodge. We have been told that there is a 1950's vintage, architect designed dining hall, "Coral Rock Dining Hall" at Ben Delatour Scout Ranch in Colorado. That council had the vision to renovate it a few years ago, including a state-of-the-art kitchen.

 

There may be other great lodges out there that are not represented on the WEB. We'd like to know about them.

[matt_lashaw]

finch lodge is the place to be to learn about scouting history and a place learn about yourself. this is whay you need to try to save these types of buildings

[John-in-KC]

Lone Bear Lodge at the H Roe Bartle Scout Reservaation dates to the 30s. It was where Roe Bartle lived with his family through the summer camping season.

 

The Heart of America Council recapitalized both Theodore Naish and the H Roe Bartle Reservations in the past few years. We still need to re-do the dining halls in the 3 camps at Bartle, but that's probably the last major project for some years to come. Even there, we might get away with re-building the kitchens, since they are the cost-heavy part of a dining hall.

 

The youth are planning a capital drive within the OA Lodge to build themselves a new Great House and ceremony ring. The Tribe of Mic-o-Say is in a capital drive to build a new Lone Bear Council Ring.

[moxieman]

I have yet to make it out to Katahadin Area Council's (Eastern Maine) Camp Roosevelt, but their log cabin lodge/dining hall dates back to 1929. Maybe I need to go have a surprise visit on my brother and his troop who are out there this week.

 

http://katahdinareabsa.org/camp_roosevelt__welcome.htm

 

They replaced the roof in the past couple of years. There is a photo of the dining hall in their summer camp brochure (click on forms and then the Boy Scout Camp brochure link in PDF format).

[local1400]

Mox, I ate hundreds of meals in that old lodge over an 8 year span. The KAC built a new 400 seat dining hall finished in Fall 2006. I don't know what they will do with the old 1929 hall, but I am sure it will remain forever. There are some better photos of it under the JOTA/K1BSA section of the website. Go on up, you are only 90 minutes or so. local.

[BrotherhoodWWW]

This is some of the worst news I've read in a long time. I first went to summer camp at Cowles with a provisional Troop. In 1980 I was a member of the Youth Staff. That same year I underwnet my OA Ordeal at that Scout camp and a Section W1C Conclave that fall. The next year I went through Brotherhood. To say that i have memories of the place......

 

I wish the Inland Northwest Council would look a bit to the west and to Grand Columbia Council and ask questions about our recient bad expierneces in building a new lodge. I do not know all the details but what I heard did not make me happy. I hope the effort to save Finch Lodge is successful.